From left: Tamir Shemesh of Corcoran Group, the first-place team and Bob Knakal of Massey Knakal Realty Services

From the August issue: The Real Deal and guests hit the links last month for the magazine’s first annual Invitational Golf Tournament. Some 31 industry professionals donned their plaid pants and headed to Hampton Hills Country Club in Westhampton Beach to try their luck in the scramble-style tournament. Other guests stopped by for lunch on the patio and post-golf cocktails. The winning team included Harry Zapiti and John Bennardo of Manhattan-based Legacy Builders, who partnered with ERG Property Advisors’ Michael Guarino Jr. and Jason Au of JG Capital. The team was awarded a trophy, and each team member received a $75 gift certificate to the Hampton Hills pro shop. Other guests included Bob Knakal of Massey Knakal Realty Services; Georgia Malone of Georgia Malone & Company, Michael Duckfield of Israel Berger & Associates; A.C. Lawrence & Company co-founders Anthony DeGrotta and Larry Friedman, and chairman Marc Lewis. Click here for pictures from the event. [more]

From left: Andrew Cuomo, Cory Zelnick, Jeff Winick and the Dexter House

The Real Deal has already revealed its picks for the Best of New York City Real Estate
2010 and a list of our top 10 hottest real estate topics of the year is on the way, but first, here’s what you thought. After the jump, there is a list of the 10 most popular Web stories
from TheRealDeal.com in 2010, ranked by number of page views between Jan. 1 and Dec. 26. Also be sure to check out our December issue for the year’s most popular stories
from the print magazine. [more]

From left: Marc Lewis, Denise Salizzoni, Tiffany Stilwell, Marc Windheuser and the former Century 21 NY Metro office at 228 East 45th Street

With Century 21 NY Metro now closed, boutique brokerage A.C. Lawrence has taken over the firm’s 45th Street office space and hired several of its top managers, including former CEO Marc Lewis as chairman.
Former Century 21 NY Metro managers Denise Salizzoni and Tiffany Stilwell are also joining A.C. Lawrence’s management. Salizzoni will serve as rental director and Stilwell as listings manager. Former Century 21 NY Metro Sales Director Marc Windheuser has returned to Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Other former Century 21 agents are “free to decide” whether they want to join A.C. Lawrence or not, said A.C. Lawrence spokesperson Charlotte Kullen, formerly the spokesperson for Century 21 NY Metro. A.C. Lawrence, which has around 35 agents, said it is launching an “aggressive recruitment campaign,” however. [more]

From left: Marc Lewis, Paul Bologna (top), Jorden Tepper and 228 East 45th Street (building photo credit: PropertyShark)

The management of brokerage Century 21 NY Metro is looking for new investors in a bid to save the company, industry sources said. The residential and commercial real estate company has been having cash flow problems and recently failed to make payroll, according to several agents who said they are owed commissions. With rumors flying that the company is on the verge of shutting its doors, a large number of agents have left the firm. Agents were told several weeks ago that the owners were exploring a partnership with the long-established real estate management firms Mautner-Glick Corp. and Wallack Management to inject new capital into the company. [more]

From left: Marc Lewis, Marc Windheuser and Jorden Tepper

Former Prudential Douglas Elliman associate broker Marc Windheuser has been tapped to manage sales at Century 21 NY Metro, the firm anno [more]

Since late 2008, most residential data shows long plunge followed by only a small, recent rebound

From the September issue: Sept. 15, 2008, is seared into many New Yorkers’ memories as the day the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, shredding confidence in the economy and shoving stock prices — and apartment prices — off a cliff. As the second anniversary of that dark point approaches, there are glimmers of good news. Overall, Manhattan’s residential market has recovered from the lowest post-Lehman lows logged in 2009. Average prices for Manhattan co-op and condo sales, and for rentals in the borough, have bounced back in the low single-digit percentages since last year. However — like the economy as a whole — the residential market still has a long way to go before it hits a solid recovery (see related story on another possible shoe drop here). Pick almost any residential data series, and its chart looks like a hockey stick — a long plunge followed by a small, recent recovery.

[more]

Century 21 NY Metro’s Marc Lewis

Century 21 NY Metro has launched its own Virtual Office Website — or
“VOW” — the company announced today. The VOW will give homebuyers
access to all residential listings from member [more]

Marc Lewis, president and CEO of Century 21 NY Metro and his company’s new office at 228 East 45th Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

Century 21 NY Metro is relocating to a 13,000-square-foot office at 228 East 45th Street, the company announced today.
The sales and rental company, which has around 150 agents and staff, will vacate its current space at 575 Madison Avenue June 1, according to President and CEO Marc Lewis. The new office is some 40 percent larger and can house up to 200 people, Lewis said. The asking rent for the new space is listed on CoStar as $29.50 per foot. Lewis would not comment on the taking rent, but said it was comparable to what the company is paying now. Since the recession hit, a number of real estate companies have switched locations to take advantage of lower rents for office space. Aside from offering more space for a comparable price, Century 21’s new office — on 45th Street between Second and Third avenues — is “in a much better location,” Lewis said. [more]

Century 21 NY Metro is the latest New York City brokerage firm to ramp
up its social media efforts. The firm launched Live Agent Chat last
week, a feature on its Web site which allows potential buyers to chat
online with agents while perusing listings. The system connects potential clients with agents who are logged in at
that time and cycles the next client to the next agent, moving through
those logged in. “With more buyers and renters finding that even e-mail is too slow in
this era of texting and tweeting, an immediate chat response is often
preferred,” said Marc Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro. The agents are reporting success with the new feature. “I’ve come close to closing a deal and many of my colleagues have been
successful the first day the chat feature was up and running,” Century
21 NY Metro agent Deborah Abraham told The Real Deal during an online
chat. [more]

Marc Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro and MQ Realty head Cesar Guevara

In a continuing bid for aggressive expansion, Century 21 NY Metro told The Real Deal today that it has acquired Queens-based sales and rental firm MQ Realty. MQ Realty, a nine-agent firm that previously specialized in Long Island City and Astoria, is headed by longtime agent Cesar Guevara. The six-year-old company has already vacated its office at 31-87 Steinway Street and moved into Century 21 NY Metro’s headquarters at 575 Madison Avenue, according to Marc Lewis, the president of Century 21 NY Metro. The move brings Century 21′s total agent count to roughly 150, Lewis said. That’s up from 95 in May of 2008. Century 21 NY Metro, which does both rentals and sales, was created by a 2006 merger of Dwelling Quest and Century 21 Kevin B. Brown. Lewis, who took the company’s reins in October of 2008, said he is looking to expand the company’s market share in Manhattan and hopes to double the its agents within the next 12 months. [more]